Chapter XIV.

Though a widow may have received no commandment, yet she
has received so many counsels that she ought not to think little of
them. St. Ambrose would be sorry to lay any snare for her, seeing
that the field of the Church grows richer as a result of wedlock, but
it is absolutely impossible to deny that widowhood, which St. Paul
praises, is profitable. Consequently, he speaks severely about
those who have proscribed widowhood by law.

82. But neither has
the widow received any command, but a counsel; a counsel, however, not
given once only but often repeated. For, first, it is said:
“It is good for a man not to touch a woman.”339933991 Cor. vii. 1. And again: “I would
that all men were even as I myself;”340034001 Cor. vii. 7.
and once more: “It is good for them if they remain even as
I;”340134011 Cor. vii. 8. and a fourth
time: “It is good for the present distress.”340234021 Cor. vii. 26. And that it is well pleasing to the
Lord, and honourable, and, lastly, that perseverance in widowhood is
happier, he lays down not only as his own judgment, but also as an
aspiration of the Holy Spirit. Who, then, can reject the kindness
of such a counsellor? Who gives the reins to the will, and
advises in the case of others that which he has found advantageous by
his own experience, he who is not easy to catch up, and is not hurt at
being equalled. Who, then, would shrink from becoming holy in
body and spirit, since the reward is far above the toil, grace beyond
need, and the wages above the work?

83. And this, I say, not in order to lay a snare
for others, but that as a good husbandman of the land entrusted to me,
I may see this field of the Church to be fruitful, at one time
blossoming with the flowers of purity, at another time strong in the
gravity of widowhood, and yet again abounding with the fruits of
wedlock. For though they be diverse, yet they are the fruits of
one field; there are not so many lilies in the gardens as ears of corn
in the fields, and many more fields are prepared for receiving seed
than lie fallow after the crops are gathered in.

84. Widowhood is, then, good, which is so often
praised by the judgment of the apostles, for it is a teacher of the
faith
406and a teacher of
chastity. Whereas they who honour the adulteries and the shame of
their gods appointed penalties for celibacy and widowhood;34033403 The
reference would seem to be to the “Lex Julia et Papia
Poppæa,” but the object of this law was not, as St.
Ambrose seems to imply, to check celibacy, but to meet the growing
licentiousness of the age, which avoided the obligations of married
life while indulging in every kind of impure abominations. that zealous in pursuit of crimes they
might punish the study of virtues; under the pretext, indeed, of
seeking increase of the population, but in reality that they might put
an end to the purpose of chastity. For the soldier, when his time
is ended, lays aside his arms, and leaving the rank which he held, is
dismissed as a veteran to his own land, that he may obtain rest after
the toils of a laborious life, and cause others to be more ready to
undergo labour in the hope of future repose. The labourer, too,
as he grows too old, entrusts the guiding of the plough to others, and
worn out by the toil of his youth, enjoys in his old age that which his
foresight has cared for, still ready to prune the vine rather than to
press the grapes, so as to check the luxuriance of early life, and to
cut off with his pruning knife the wantonness of youth, teaching, as it
were, that blessed fruitfulness is to be aimed at even in the
vine.

85. In like manner the widow, as a veteran, having
served her time, though she lays aside the arms of married life, yet
orders the peace of the whole house: though now freed from
carrying burdens, she is yet watchful for the younger who are to be
married; and with the thoughtfulness of old age she arranges where more
pains would be profitable, where produce would be more abundant, which
is fitted for the marriage bond. And so, if the field is
entrusted to the elder rather than to the younger, why should you think
that it is more advantageous to be a married woman than a widow?
But, if the persecutors of the faith have also been the persecutors of
widowhood, most certainly by those who hold the faith, widowhood is not
to be shunned as a penalty, but to be esteemed as a reward.

3403 The
reference would seem to be to the “Lex Julia et Papia
Poppæa,” but the object of this law was not, as St.
Ambrose seems to imply, to check celibacy, but to meet the growing
licentiousness of the age, which avoided the obligations of married
life while indulging in every kind of impure abominations.